📅 holiday

AFL Grand Final Friday

Friday, September 26, 2025

— days to go

The AFL Grand Final holiday is the newest public holiday in the state of Victoria. The date of the holiday is on the Friday preceding the Australian Football League Grand Final. The holiday is also referred to as “AFL Grand Final Friday”. The table below will be updated once the 2026 AFL fixtures have been released. “Grand Final Friday” has been promoted by the current government of Victoria and is a campaign promise kept for the sitting Victorian Premier. Despite the economic costs, which are estimated at $850 million by a 28-day government study, supporters of the new holiday hold it up as a chance to spend more time with family and friends. Of course, it is also a chance to celebrate Australia’s national game, football, which sometimes seems closer to a “fanatical obsession” than a mere pastime. This is not the only sports holiday in Victoria, since the state already had celebrated Melbourne Cup Day. Thus, Australia’s love for aussie rules, at least as strong as its love for horse racing, now has achieved a symbolic status by its stopping of a state for a full day. The sport of football has deep roots in Victoria. The Australian Football League (AFL) was originally known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) because all of its teams were within the bounds of Victoria. From 1897 through 1989, it was the VFL, but in 1990, the league’s expansion during the 80s to four other states was finally recognised by the name change. There are now 18 teams in the AFL, at least one in every state but Tasmania. The AFL season has three parts: a pre-season, a regular season from March till September, and a play off season. The play offs involve the eight teams with the best records and run four rounds. They culminate in the AFL Grand Final, which always is held in the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne. The things you don’t want to miss if in Victoria on AFL Grand Final Holiday are as follows:

History

This is not the only sports holiday in Victoria, since the state already had celebrated Melbourne Cup Day. The Australian Football League (AFL) was originally known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) because all of its teams were within the bounds of Victoria

How It's Celebrated

Other Years

2026

TBA

2027

TBA

2028

TBA

2025 Fri

26 Sep

2024 Fri

27 Sep

Countries

🇦🇺 AU

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🌍 observance Jan 26

Australia

In 1788, Arrival of. First Fleet. On January 26, 1788, the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Port Jackson, marking the beginning of European colonization of Australia

AUUS

📅 holiday Feb 10

Feast of St Paul's Shipwreck

The Feast of Saint Paul’s Shipwreck is a holiday unique to Malta because it was on Malta that the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked around the year A.D. 60. In 2027, Feast of St Paul's Shipwreck falls on Wednesday 10 February. The holiday will be on Thursday 10 February in 2028. The feast is kept on February 10th each year, and as Paul is the patron saint of Malta, it is a much-anticipated event. Out of dozens of “saint days” on the church calendar in Malta, the Feast of Saint Paul is one of only a handful that have the status of a national holiday. The account of Paul’s shipwreck and three-month, wintertime stay on Malta is found in the Bible’s Acts 27:27 through 28:11. He was being taken to Rome as a prisoner to eventually stand trial before Caesar. God let him know in advance he would be shipwrecked but would spare the lives of all on board, which promise was later kept and in answer to Paul’s prayers for their lives. The Bible says the storm was in the Adriatic Sea, though Malta borders the Ionian Sea, because in ancient times, the Adriatic’s boundaries were considered to extend much farther south. The ship broke up on the rocks near the shores of Malta, and all swam ashore. The local population greeted them, but thought he might be a murderer whom the “goddess of justice” had finally caught up with after he was bitten by a poisonous snake. After he lived, however, they supposed him to be, perhaps, a god. Paul, however, soon showed them it was God’s power at work in a mere man by healing the governor of the island, Publius, and many others who were sick or disabled among the island’s population. No doubt, Paul preached the Gospel to them as well, and when he left Malta, the inhabitants gave him all necessary supplies out of gratitude. The Feast of Saint Paul’s Shipwreck is kept at the “Parish Church of Saint Paul Shipwrecked” in Malta’s capital city of Valletta. It is also a day of processions and family get-togethers. Three things to do should you visit Malta, though hopefully not be shipwrecked there, on February 10th are:

🌍 observance Feb 13

National Apology Day

In 2004, National. Apology Day Inception. This holiday was officially recognized in Australia as a day to encourage apologies for past wrongdoings, and starting afresh